Tag Archives: Yasaitei

Service: Excellent and very friendlyFacilities: Very clean, Beautiful washroomPrices: reasonableStrong points: Vegan and vegetarian Cuisine possible any time, Izakaya gastronomy, local products, oden. Good list of sake, shochu. Wines also available.

A nice cup of icy shochu and some edomame (cooked on site!)!

It had been some time since my last visit to Yasaitei in Shizuoka City!
This is the ideal place in summer when you are in a bit of a hurry. Just sit at the counter (But come early!) and order some fresh vegetables with a cup of icy shochu!
In Yasaitei not only you know where all the vegetables come from but they are also of utter freshness!

Now, vegans (I’m not) will be happy to know this is one of the rare places in town where they can not only order vegetables but also consult the owner as for their cooking!
In summer I would definitely recommend a sashimi plate of the vegetables of the day!
Well, what did I have the pleasure to savor this time?

As for the dressing, do not worry!
You will be served a small plate containing sesame oil, rock salt and red miso paste!

Time and again I have said that vegans and vegetarians would probably have their happiest times in Japan, at least for gastronomes, because this country, and especially Shizuoka with its mild weather and abundance of vegetables in all seasons, can provide all ingredients all year round whose traceability is easy to prove!

The above o-tooshi/お通し/is not vegetarian, but you aforementioned priorities will ensure it is!

There are many places in Shizuoka City and Prefecture offering alternatives to their omnivorous dishes for vegans and vegetarians who still want to enjoy their outing with friends with different priorities.
One such place, and arguably the best at it, is Yasaitei in Tokiwa Cho, Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City!
Incidentally the owner/chef and staff are all ladies, but customers are certainly of both genders!
And here is one recommendation:

Vegetable sashimi plate!
The above is the basic one, but you certainly may order for a bigger variety!

View for the other side!

Ice plant and celery!

One thing all these vegetables have in common is that they are super fresh, crunchy, juicy and so tasty!

Last Friday after our superb lunch at Restaurant Bio-S, the owner Kazuhiro Matsuki/松木一浩 kindly drove me and my journalists friends, Camille Oger and Julien Morelo, through forests at the foot of Mount Fuji to Okamura Ranch.
Okamura Ranch is one of the three beef producers established at the foot of Mount Fuji (there are 13 in all the Prefecture).

View of Mount Fuji from Okamura Ranch!

Chiyoji Okamura/岡村千代次さん was born in Shiga Prefecture in 1955.
The fifth child of a large family there was little left for him back home.
Having graduated from Tokyo Agricultural University in 1978 he tried his hand at agriculture before coming to Fujinomiya City in 1990 to establish a beef producing ranch with 30 heads of cattle. He is now looking after 300+ heads throughout a year.

The meadows reserved to pregnant cows.

He basically breeds his own cows (there is not a single bull on the premises) from 2-months old calves bought from a calf breeder or breeds his own calves after having artificially inseminated his cows.
If a male is born he is castrated while females will be later inseminated.

Very healthy but a bit shy pregnant cows.

The cows are culled for meat after 24 months, a short time compared to meat cattle in Europe.
The abattoirs are located so far from the ranch that the cows never realize their fate and feel very little stress.
Interestingly enough, Mr. Okamura does not produce calves for meat.

A smiling cow!

The beef breed in Okamura Ranch is originally a hybrid of meat-producing cattle and milk-producing cattle.
The BSE problem a few years ago convinced him that the traceability of his meat was of the utmost importance.
He will always meet personally his clients, be they traders or restaurants, before he agrees to sell his meat to them.

In spite of the daily care (no holidays there) vital for the good health of his cows, Mr. Okamura and his wife seem happy enough to spend all their time on the ranch and in their enormous (by Japanese standards) house where they regularly hold bbq’s. After all the two of them look after the cows and have to assume all the roles of cattle farmers and veterinarians!

The cow sheds and the farm were all rebuilt in 2003 and Mr. Okamura’s Fujisan Beef was officially recogniszed as an independent beef brand by the Shizuoka Prefecture Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 2006!

Each calf lives in its own shed for maximum comfort and well-being.

The sheds are a model of cleanliness!
What with Mount Fuji and the surrounding nature, there is no pollution and the water and natural grass are of superlative quality.
As for fodder Mr. Okamura imports it all from America through a very strictly regulated route.
The used straw and droppings are recycled as natural fertilizer for neighboring farmers.

All these animals need a lot of feed, mainly consisting of cereals including corn and barley!
Mr. Okamura’s own blend of feed devised trough his years of experience and experimenting make the difference!

The sheds are regularly cleaned and provided with fresh straw for maximum hygiene.
Mrs. Okumura takes charge of feeding the calves twice a day and of all the accounts of their business while Mr. Okamura takes care of all the rest.
Quite a few students ask to work with them as interns but only a few are accepted after careful screening.

A very hungry calf!

This is all extremely hard work and I very much doubt that the Okamuras will ever get fat. They are actually extremely fit and smiling and passionate in spite of their shyness.
The result?

Superlative meat difficult to surpass!
it was interesting to note, and Mr. Matsuki concurred, that Mr. Okamura produces an extremely tender red beef without the use of fat as found in other famed beef, a feat that will ask a lot to equal indeed!

I said in my previous article that there are many Shizuoka products worthwhile introducing not only to the general public but also to restaurants who work hard promoting food originating from our Prefecture.
Another such place is Yasaitei in Shizuoka City!

Like in the other article, after having interviewed Toshikatsu Hatada/畑田敏克 at Hatada Garden/畑田農園 in Kuno/久能 in Shizuoka City, I called Ms. Suzuki to tell her I was bringing fresh leaf ginger and I wished her to create some dishes with it to which se immediately genially agreed! Yasatei thus the second restaurant I visited on that day!

I had my usual (I’m a regular there, too…) glass of Doman Shochu (brewed by Hamamatsu-Tenjingura Brewery in Hamamatsu City) with a snack consisting of kogomi/こごみ/ostrich fern in sesame dressing.

Aki keeps things simple with a respect for the natural taste of ingredients.
The first serving was the leaf ginger cut and served with red miso paste. A great snack for the shochu!

Keeping in mind I wanted something light to accompany the drink, she lightly fried in olive oil and a minimum of salt and pepper thin strips of leaf ginger, bacon and strips of yellow sweet pimentoes.

Great balance between the salty taste of bacon, the sweetness of pimentoes and spiciness of the ginger!

She was back in true vegetarian mode for the last dish:

A salad of very lightly fried strips of leaf ginger and cucumber topped with thin strips of raw radishes for an interesting and slightly piquant salad!

Last night, having a long break in the evening and being ravenous, I just couldn’t wait until dinner at home. So, I veisited my favourite izakaya, namely Yasaitei, where I knew I could have a quick and delicious fix without worrying about my wasitline!

In Japan it is usual to be served a small snack (which will be charged at a nominal but reasonable price) with the first drink order.

For a closer view!

The snack was “yuba”/tofu sheets with uni/sea urchin (vegans or vegetarians only need to point out their priorities and they will be served only according to them, so no worries!) and Shizuoka wasabi (and slices of radish).

With a little soy sauce,so simple but so refined at the same time!

The vegetables were basically the same as my last visit, which I don’t mind at all, but the plate and the presentation were different, which I appreciate no end!:
-Yellow carrot
-Myoga/myoga ginger shoots
-Cucumber (so crispy!)
-Celery
Daikon
-Shiso on a bed of thinly cut onions.

For a side view!

Served with sesame oil, miso and salt seasoning and a glass of Doman Shochu by Hamamatsi-Tenjigura Brewery, perfect!